THE HISTORY OF MECCA

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THE HISTORY OF MECCA

This entity does not solicit, nor accept, donations.

Free PDF tract of this subject. Print both sides and Z-fold in 2 directions for shirt pocket size.

For Islam on the Gospel please visit IslamAndTheTruth.com

For discussion of this subject and many others please join us in the Islam-Christian Forum.

The Arabian city of Mecca (or Makkah) enjoys a colorful history, that all of the available historical and archaeological evidence suggest began in around the 4th century AD, when migrants from Yemen initially settled the area. Since Mecca is the historical and geographical epicenter of the religion of Islam this fundamental element is interesting to explore whether one is religious or not. All practicing Muslims, everywhere in the world, are obligated to prostrate themselves in prayer toward the Kaaba in Mecca five times a day. Additionally, every Muslim is further obliged to travel to Mecca and perform the Islamic ritual of the Hajj, at least once in their lifetime, because it is the "fifth pillar" of Islam. Islamic "tradition" holds that Mecca's Kaaba was the first temple on earth and that it was built by Adam (or Adem), who Muslims are taught was 60 cubits or 90 feet tall. The Kaaba was later supposed to have been rebuilt by Abraham and Ishmael (Ibrahim, Ismail). So where did this "tradition" come from?

Historical and Archaeological Evidence (URL)

The archaeological record of Arabia is one of the best preserved on earth because the relatively low rainfall limited degradation of the archaeological evidence. Many ancient Arabian towns such as Yemen, Qudar, Dedan, Tiema, Mada'in Saleh (Al-Hijr), Magan (Oman) and Dilmun are well attested in the historical and archaeological record, and also attest to each other. The historical record of Arabia even includes evidence of very small Arabian towns, established before the Christian era, that came and went within a few centuries. Yet Mecca is nowhere to be found in that record..

The history of Mecca makes for an interesting Internet search. Try:

Here's a Wikipedia article on Ancient Towns in Saudi Arabia.

The reason we do not find Mecca listed as an ancient town is because Mecca is not an ancient town. What we do learn from Internet searches is confirmation that there is no historical or archaeological evidence that suggests that Mecca ever existed before around the 4th century A.D., when migrants from Yemen initially settled the area and built their Kaaba in the early 5th century A.D. for pagan Arabian moon, sun, star and jinn-devil worship. Some absurdly suggest that Islamic "tradition" was transmitted orally over a period of thousands of years, through Arabian pagans, that by the time Muhammad was a young man were worshiping 360 idols around their Ka'aba.

Mecca was settled some distance aw ay from what became one of the most established trade routes in Arabia (after it was first established in about the 6th-8th century BC), and about which historical record abounds.

(URL) "Yet, according to extensive research by Bulliet on the history of trade in the ancient Middle-East, these claims by Muslims are quite wrong, as Mecca simply was not on the major trading routes. The reason for this, he contends, is that, "Mecca is tucked away at the edge of the peninsula. Only by the most tortured map reading can it be described as a natural crossroads between a north-south route and an east-west one." (Bulliet 1975:105)

This is corroborated by further research carried out by Groom and Muller, who contend that Mecca simply could not have been on the trading route, as it would have entailed a detour from the natural route. In fact, they maintain the trade route must have bypassed Mecca by some one-hundred miles (Groom 1981:193; Muller 1978:723)."

Quote from this link: "I am Muslim and teach Eastern History.

While Mohammad, the Kaaba and the Islamic religion seems to be very well documented in religious sources, I regret to say that there are few authentic Historical sources of Mohammad and Mecca."

"All the facts point to the historical argument that Mecca was constructed in the 4th century A.D."

This is how we can rest assured that scripture-contrary, history devoid, archaeologically unsupportable and geographically impossible Islamic so-called "tradition", that suggests thousands of years of pre-4th century Mecca, is exposed as being a work of pure fiction that was created and put to the pen in the 7th to 10th centuries, without reference to any actual historical record that preceded the 6th century AD. The suggestion of Abraham, Hagar or Ishmael were ever within 1,000 kilometers of the place where Mecca was eventually established (about 2,000 years after Abraham roamed the earth), is a demographical and geographical impossibility.

Compare the stark absence of pre-4th century historical evidence of Mecca, with the massive volume of evidence of Jerusalem, the historical and geographical epicenter of Judaism and Christianity. Try

One quickly learns that archaeology increasingly confirms the Bible as a reliable source of ancient historical record. One can hardly excavate anywhere near Jerusalem without finding ancient artifacts. There are a million artifacts just on display!

Some Hindus suggest that the Kaaba was a Shiva temple and "Lord Shiva's Holy Symbol Shivling is placed in the Makka-Madina". But a featureless cobbled together unsymmetrical stone box would seem inconsistent with the detailed architecture of Hindu temples, let alone that available evidence suggests that the Kaaba did not exist until the 5th century AD when Asa'd Abu Karb built it, while the black stone did not arrive until the late 5th century (likely from Yemen). During those 1-2 centuries before Muhammad, the Kaaba became populated with 360 idols, dedicated to Arabian Star Family and jinn-devil worship, so the black stone wasn't likely ever considered a lingam or shivling either.

(URL) The investigations of the historian who put together the following 77 minute documentary film, that aired on television in the UK, suggests an even sketchier picture of Islamic history:

The Temple Mount (link to this spot)

If the Arabian's "Allah" commissioned the Kaaba to be constructed at the center of the world, below the gate to heaven, why then did YHWH (Yahweh) give David the site location and detailed instruction for a tabernacle on Mount Moriah, that was built by his son Solomon over 3,000 years ago, and rebuilt by Herod over 2,000 years ago, that stood 666 nautical miles from where Mecca was eventually settled in the 4th century AD?

Following depictions from http://www.templemount.org/solomon.html

The second temple having been thrown down every stone - just as Jesus prophesied - was replaced by God's people who are the "temple of God" in this new covenant era.

"Excavated stones from the Wall of the 2nd Temple (Jerusalem), knocked onto the street below by Roman battering rams on the 9th of Av, 70 C.E." (Wikimedia Commons)

To help put the absence of record of Mecca in perspective, the exact equivalent would be to suggest that there is not a shred of historical or archaeological evidence, that demonstrates that Jerusalem ever existed before the 4th century A.D.! This would obviously be a ridiculous suggestion regarding Jerusalem, yet it is an absolute matter of fact in regard to Mecca! Why not ask your Imam to direct you to some pre-4th century historical or archaeological evidence of Mecca (outside of the created fictional "tradition" penned in the 7th - 10th centuries A.D.)?

Where do the Qibla of the oldest mosques point to?

Mecca is located 1,000 kilometers - across barren desert - away from the Holy Land. The record of Abraham's journey as detailed in Scripture and confirmed by archaeology, precludes any notion of Abraham, Hagar or Ishmael ever having been in Mecca.

Additionally, they lived over 1,000 years before the first overland route connected northern and southern Arabia, and over 2,000 years before Mecca was ever settled. Indeed Abraham’s journey never brought him within about 1000 to as much as 1500 kilometers, of where Mecca was eventually established.

If Mecca had been the epicenter of Islam since the time of Adam, it would follow that there would be increasingly more archaeological evidence, the closer one traveled to this focal point of Mohammed's 7th century religion. It also follows that there would be a greater pre-Mohammed historical record for Mecca than any other Arabian city, but no such record exists. Again, compare that with Jerusalem where the closer one gets to this historical epicenter of Judaism and Christianity, the more abundant artifacts become.

From where do the Islamic rituals that take place in Mecca originate?

From the Hadith we learn that Mohammed and his followers had joined the pagans in their ritual of the Hajj and circumambulated the Kaaba together, right up until the year before Mohammed's last Hajj, when the pagans were then expelled from their own traditional ritual:

Bukhari V2, B26, #689 (V1, B8, No 365): Narrated Abu Huraira:

“In the year prior to the last Hajj of the Prophet when Allahs Apostle made Abu Bakr the leader of the pilgrims, the latter (Abu Bakr) sent me in the company of a group of people to make a public announcement: 'No pagan is allowed to perform Hajj after this year, and no naked person is allowed to perform Tawaf of the Kaba.'”

Indeed some of Mohammed’s closest followers hated the tradition of the Umrah, that is running back and forth between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, because they knew the ritual had pagan origins.

Bukhari V2, B26 #710 (B2 #128)

“Asem told us that he said to Uns bin Malek, a companion of Mohammed, “You were hating to encompass around the Safa and Marwa.” He answered, “Yes, because it was one of the pagan rites of Jahiliyah until Allah gave a verse that the Safa and Marwa are the rites of Allah. If one makes the Hajj to the Kaabah, he must encompass them. The person has no sin when he encompass them.”

It was Mohammed's grandfather, Abdel Mutaleb, that dug the well of Zamzam to establish a Hajj around the idols of Asaf and Naelah, who were the most venerated priest and priestess of the Arabian jinn-demon religion.

It's paramount to understand the importance of Islamic "tradition" being penned in the 8th to 10th centuries without reference to historical record that preceded the 5th century A.D. Historical record is that which is recorded by those that lived in or near the times that are written about, as directly opposed to pure fiction that is created from thin air, thousands of years after the fact. This is how you wind up with things like the Islamic "history" of Solomon riding around with his armies on a giant flying platform. Yet some of Mohammed's followers even today will cite a false interpretation of scripture, or a historical misunderstanding or two by careless 18th and 19th century authors, with the suggestion that it could somehow substitute for a 4500 year pre-Mohammed historical and archaeological record of Mecca!

What this assures us of, is that outside of Muhammad's fantasy about riding a flying donkey-mule to Jerusalem, up to heaven and back one night, Islam has no religious association with Israel, the Holy Land of the prophets and patriarchs, in any way, shape or form. Additionally, any "history" of Islam that predates Mohammed, is little more than 7th to 10th century created historical fiction. The large volume of contradictions, historical mistakes, and mathematical errors contained in Islamic “tradition” (such as 66 year long generations between Ishmael and Muhammad), further confirm it's lack of veracity. Indeed on closer inspection, the rituals of Islam are found to be little more than thinly repackaged pagan Arabian moon, sun, star and jinn-demon worship, while the Quran and Hadith are embellished with Hebrew and Arabian fables that Mohammed learned during his travels, or was taught by his friends like Jabr, his wives and concubines, as well as having been influenced by Zoroastrianism and the 2nd century occult cult of the Sabians. So deeply involved was Mohammed and three of his cousins in the cult of the Sabians, that folks in his own tribe referred to Mohammed simply as “the Sabian”. Indeed Mohammed mentions the Sabians right alongside Christians in the Quran. It should be no surprise then to learn that the Sabians and/or Harranians prayed five times a day, practiced ablution, prostrated in prayer, wore long white robes and fasted for 30 days during the same month as Ramadan, which are rituals that Mohammed incorporated into his religion, with a claim that the practices were dictated to him while taking an overnight ride on a flying donkey-mule from Mecca, to Jerusalem, to Heaven and then back to Mecca by morning.

The historical record suggests that Mecca was settled around the 4th century A.D. by the Yemeni tribe of Khuzaa'h, joined later by Mohammed’s tribe the Quraish. The Kaaba was built around the early 5th century likely by Asa'd Abu Karb, for Arabian Star Family worship after the black stone made it's way to Mecca, most likely from Yemen. Early reporters recounted that prior to the construction of the Kaabah, a tent occupied the site. The Kaaba eventually housed 360 idols dedicated to Arabian moon, sun, star and jinn (demon) worship. It is no secret that the black stone that Muslims still prostrate themselves toward 5 times a day, venerate, and circumambulate, is the same black stone idol that pagan Arabians venerated and circumambulated. In other words, the Quraish established the rituals that Mohammed eventually adopted and then adapted to his creation.

No Mecca before the 4th century - no Kaaba before the 5th century - means no foundation whatsoever underpinning Islamic so-called "tradition". That leaves Islam as Mohammed’s stand-alone, unhistorical, 7th century invention. Since Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael never lived or traveled within 1,000 km of where Mecca was eventually built, and lived well over 1,000 years before the first caravan ever traveled north to south through Arabia, the truth is undeniable.

There are historical references to other temples and even to a great temple "highly revered by all the Arabs”, and Mohammed's own tribe the Quraish went on Hajj or pilgrimage twice a year long after they built the Kaaba in Mecca and even after Muhammad had invented Islam, indicating that the Kaaba in Mecca was a less important place of pagan worship.

Quran 106:1 For the covenants by the Quraish, 2 Their covenants journeys by winter and summer,- 3 Let them adore the Lord of this House,

The Kaaba Flooded (link to this spot)

Does it seem reasonable to believe that Yahweh would consign His temple to be situated in a valley, 1400 kilometers away from the temple He had His people build in the Holy Land of the prophets and patriarchs, where it would eventually be inundated by 5 feet of urban floodwater that is always laced with human sewage?

Or would He more likely consign His temple to be built on a temple mount, situated on a hill (God's "footstool"), as the true record of the temple in the Holy Land of the prophets and patriarchs of the one true God YHWH in fact was?

To our Muslim friends, please research the history of Mecca for yourself. Much of the preceding material is derived from the Religion Research Institute, and the book “Islam: in the Light of History”, penned by Dr. Rafat Amari after his extensive, 20 year, full-time study of the history of Arabia, Mecca and Islam. This whole subject might be described as something of a wikileaks of Islam. Dr. Amari's first language is Arabic and his research included original source materials.

The coming of the Messiah, Yahshua (Hebrew name for the Messiah which means "YHWH saves", delivers, or rescues), and the prophesied new covenant that He brought, heralded an entirely different kind of temple. Jesus rebuilt the temple in 3 days, just as He declared He could.

John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone] 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

2Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

1Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

1Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Considering the absence of any historical and archaeological record that suggests that Mecca ever existed before the 4th century A.D., or its Kaaba before the late 5th century AD, could this be what the Saudi's are trying to hide? While the Saudi's (whose money will finance the 9-11 ground zero mosque through various conduits) want to build a grand mosque in New York city (there are already over a hundred of them in N.Y.), the reciprocal fact is that if 99.4% of U.S. citizens (non-Muslims) even set foot in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, we would be subject to arrest.

While there is lots of talk regarding free speech touted by mosque sympathizers, what will the politically correct fate of free speech be after the mosque is built? Here's a video example of Christians prevented from passing out tracts of the Gospel of John, anywhere within 5 blocks of an Arab festival, or face arrest. Indeed they were arrested for it. The festival was held on public streets in Dearborn Michigan. Here's another example of Muslim intolerance of free speech on the U.C. Irvine campus. Naturally the ACLU and New York times are coming to their defense.

The Saudis have spent billions of dollars financing thousands of mosques and Islamic centers in the U.S., to advance the counter-Gospel, stand-alone, 23-year 7th century record, of the false prophet Muhammad's antichrist "religion", while at the same time if a non-Moslem were even to set foot in Mecca they would be arrested.


	THE HISTORY OF MECCA \| home THE HISTORY OF MECCA \| GEOGRAPHY OF MECCA - ISLAM \| ARCHAEOLOGY OF MECCA \| BACA IS MECCA? \| HISTORICAL CLAIMS REGARDING MECCA \| ORIGINS OF ISLAM \| RESOURCES \| CONTACT THE HISTORY OF MECCA This entity does not solicit, nor accept, donations. Free PDF tract of this subject. Print both sides and Z-fold in 2 directions for shirt pocket size. For Islam on the Gospel please visit IslamAndTheTruth.com For discussion of this subject and many others please join us in the Islam-Christian Forum. The Arabian city of Mecca (or Makkah) enjoys a colorful history, that all of the available historical and archaeological evidence suggest began in around the 4th century AD, when migrants from Yemen initially settled the area. Since Mecca is the historical and geographical epicenter of the religion of Islam this fundamental element is interesting to explore whether one is religious or not. All practicing Muslims, everywhere in the world, are obligated to prostrate themselves in prayer toward the Kaaba in Mecca five times a day. Additionally, every Muslim is further obliged to travel to Mecca and perform the Islamic ritual of the Hajj, at least once in their lifetime, because it is the "fifth pillar" of Islam. Islamic "tradition" holds that Mecca's Kaaba was the first temple on earth and that it was built by Adam (or Adem), who Muslims are taught was 60 cubits or 90 feet tall. The Kaaba was later supposed to have been rebuilt by Abraham and Ishmael (Ibrahim, Ismail). So where did this "tradition" come from? image courtesy Wikimedia Creative Commons Historical and Archaeological Evidence (URL) The archaeological record of Arabia is one of the best preserved on earth because the relatively low rainfall limited degradation of the archaeological evidence. Many ancient Arabian towns such as Yemen, Qudar, Dedan, Tiema, Mada'in Saleh (Al-Hijr), Magan (Oman) and Dilmun are well attested in the historical and archaeological record, and also attest to each other. The historical record of Arabia even includes evidence of very small Arabian towns, established before the Christian era, that came and went within a few centuries. Yet Mecca is nowhere to be found in that record.. The history of Mecca makes for an interesting Internet search. Try: archaeology of mecca - or - historical and archaeological evidence mecca - or - ancient towns of Arabia Here's a Wikipedia article on Ancient Towns in Saudi Arabia. The reason we do not find Mecca listed as an ancient town is because Mecca is not an ancient town. What we do learn from Internet searches is confirmation that there is no historical or archaeological evidence that suggests that Mecca ever existed before around the 4th century A.D., when migrants from Yemen initially settled the area and built their Kaaba in the early 5th century A.D. for pagan Arabian moon, sun, star and jinn-devil worship. Some absurdly suggest that Islamic "tradition" was transmitted orally over a period of thousands of years, through Arabian pagans, that by the time Muhammad was a young man were worshiping 360 idols around their Ka'aba. Mecca was settled some distance aw ay from what became one of the most established trade routes in Arabia (after it was first established in about the 6th-8th century BC), and about which historical record abounds. (URL) "Yet, according to extensive research by Bulliet on the history of trade in the ancient Middle-East, these claims by Muslims are quite wrong, as Mecca simply was not on the major trading routes. The reason for this, he contends, is that, "Mecca is tucked away at the edge of the peninsula. Only by the most tortured map reading can it be described as a natural crossroads between a north-south route and an east-west one." (Bulliet 1975:105) This is corroborated by further research carried out by Groom and Muller, who contend that Mecca simply could not have been on the trading route, as it would have entailed a detour from the natural route. In fact, they maintain the trade route must have bypassed Mecca by some one-hundred miles (Groom 1981:193; Muller 1978:723)." Quote from this link: "I am Muslim and teach Eastern History. While Mohammad, the Kaaba and the Islamic religion seems to be very well documented in religious sources, I regret to say that there are few authentic Historical sources of Mohammad and Mecca." "All the facts point to the historical argument that Mecca was constructed in the 4th century A.D." This is how we can rest assured that scripture-contrary, history devoid, archaeologically unsupportable and geographically impossible Islamic so-called "tradition", that suggests thousands of years of pre-4th century Mecca, is exposed as being a work of pure fiction that was created and put to the pen in the 7th to 10th centuries, without reference to any actual historical record that preceded the 6th century AD. The suggestion of Abraham, Hagar or Ishmael were ever within 1,000 kilometers of the place where Mecca was eventually established (about 2,000 years after Abraham roamed the earth), is a demographical and geographical impossibility. Compare the stark absence of pre-4th century historical evidence of Mecca, with the massive volume of evidence of Jerusalem, the historical and geographical epicenter of Judaism and Christianity. Try archaeology of Jerusalem - or - historical and archaeological evidence jerusalem - or - temple jerusalem One quickly learns that archaeology increasingly confirms the Bible as a reliable source of ancient historical record. One can hardly excavate anywhere near Jerusalem without finding ancient artifacts. There are a million artifacts just on display! Some Hindus suggest that the Kaaba was a Shiva temple and "Lord Shiva's Holy Symbol Shivling is placed in the Makka-Madina". But a featureless cobbled together unsymmetrical stone box would seem inconsistent with the detailed architecture of Hindu temples, let alone that available evidence suggests that the Kaaba did not exist until the 5th century AD when Asa'd Abu Karb built it, while the black stone did not arrive until the late 5th century (likely from Yemen). During those 1-2 centuries before Muhammad, the Kaaba became populated with 360 idols, dedicated to Arabian Star Family and jinn-devil worship, so the black stone wasn't likely ever considered a lingam or shivling either. (URL) The investigations of the historian who put together the following 77 minute documentary film, that aired on television in the UK, suggests an even sketchier picture of Islamic history: The Temple Mount (link to this spot) If the Arabian's "Allah" commissioned the Kaaba to be constructed at the center of the world, below the gate to heaven, why then did YHWH (Yahweh) give David the site location and detailed instruction for a tabernacle on Mount Moriah, that was built by his son Solomon over 3,000 years ago, and rebuilt by Herod over 2,000 years ago, that stood 666 nautical miles from where Mecca was eventually settled in the 4th century AD? The Temple Mount Wikimedia photo courtesy Deror avi Following depictions from http://www.templemount.org/solomon.html The second temple having been thrown down every stone - just as Jesus prophesied - was replaced by God's people who are the "temple of God" in this new covenant era. "Excavated stones from the Wall of the 2nd Temple (Jerusalem), knocked onto the street below by Roman battering rams on the 9th of Av, 70 C.E." (Wikimedia Commons) To help put the absence of record of Mecca in perspective, the exact equivalent would be to suggest that there is not a shred of historical or archaeological evidence, that demonstrates that Jerusalem ever existed before the 4th century A.D.! This would obviously be a ridiculous suggestion regarding Jerusalem, yet it is an absolute matter of fact in regard to Mecca! Why not ask your Imam to direct you to some pre-4th century historical or archaeological evidence of Mecca (outside of the created fictional "tradition" penned in the 7th - 10th centuries A.D.)? Where do the Qibla of the oldest mosques point to? Mecca is located 1,000 kilometers - across barren desert - away from the Holy Land. The record of Abraham's journey as detailed in Scripture and confirmed by archaeology, precludes any notion of Abraham, Hagar or Ishmael ever having been in Mecca. Additionally, they lived over 1,000 years before the first overland route connected northern and southern Arabia, and over 2,000 years before Mecca was ever settled. Indeed Abraham’s journey never brought him within about 1000 to as much as 1500 kilometers, of where Mecca was eventually established. If Mecca had been the epicenter of Islam since the time of Adam, it would follow that there would be increasingly more archaeological evidence, the closer one traveled to this focal point of Mohammed's 7th century religion. It also follows that there would be a greater pre-Mohammed historical record for Mecca than any other Arabian city, but no such record exists. Again, compare that with Jerusalem where the closer one gets to this historical epicenter of Judaism and Christianity, the more abundant artifacts become. From where do the Islamic rituals that take place in Mecca originate? From the Hadith we learn that Mohammed and his followers had joined the pagans in their ritual of the Hajj and circumambulated the Kaaba together, right up until the year before Mohammed's last Hajj, when the pagans were then expelled from their own traditional ritual: Bukhari V2, B26, #689 (V1, B8, No 365): Narrated Abu Huraira: “In the year prior to the last Hajj of the Prophet when Allahs Apostle made Abu Bakr the leader of the pilgrims, the latter (Abu Bakr) sent me in the company of a group of people to make a public announcement: 'No pagan is allowed to perform Hajj after this year, and no naked person is allowed to perform Tawaf of the Kaba.'” Indeed some of Mohammed’s closest followers hated the tradition of the Umrah, that is running back and forth between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, because they knew the ritual had pagan origins. Bukhari V2, B26 #710 (B2 #128) “Asem told us that he said to Uns bin Malek, a companion of Mohammed, “You were hating to encompass around the Safa and Marwa.” He answered, “Yes, because it was one of the pagan rites of Jahiliyah until Allah gave a verse that the Safa and Marwa are the rites of Allah. If one makes the Hajj to the Kaabah, he must encompass them. The person has no sin when he encompass them.” It was Mohammed's grandfather, Abdel Mutaleb, that dug the well of Zamzam to establish a Hajj around the idols of Asaf and Naelah, who were the most venerated priest and priestess of the Arabian jinn-demon religion. It's paramount to understand the importance of Islamic "tradition" being penned in the 8th to 10th centuries without reference to historical record that preceded the 5th century A.D. Historical record is that which is recorded by those that lived in or near the times that are written about, as directly opposed to pure fiction that is created from thin air, thousands of years after the fact. This is how you wind up with things like the Islamic "history" of Solomon riding around with his armies on a giant flying platform. Yet some of Mohammed's followers even today will cite a false interpretation of scripture, or a historical misunderstanding or two by careless 18th and 19th century authors, with the suggestion that it could somehow substitute for a 4500 year pre-Mohammed historical and archaeological record of Mecca! What this assures us of, is that outside of Muhammad's fantasy about riding a flying donkey-mule to Jerusalem, up to heaven and back one night, Islam has no religious association with Israel, the Holy Land of the prophets and patriarchs, in any way, shape or form. Additionally, any "history" of Islam that predates Mohammed, is little more than 7th to 10th century created historical fiction. The large volume of contradictions, historical mistakes, and mathematical errors contained in Islamic “tradition” (such as 66 year long generations between Ishmael and Muhammad), further confirm it's lack of veracity. Indeed on closer inspection, the rituals of Islam are found to be little more than thinly repackaged pagan Arabian moon, sun, star and jinn-demon worship, while the Quran and Hadith are embellished with Hebrew and Arabian fables that Mohammed learned during his travels, or was taught by his friends like Jabr, his wives and concubines, as well as having been influenced by Zoroastrianism and the 2nd century occult cult of the Sabians. So deeply involved was Mohammed and three of his cousins in the cult of the Sabians, that folks in his own tribe referred to Mohammed simply as “the Sabian”. Indeed Mohammed mentions the Sabians right alongside Christians in the Quran. It should be no surprise then to learn that the Sabians and/or Harranians prayed five times a day, practiced ablution, prostrated in prayer, wore long white robes and fasted for 30 days during the same month as Ramadan, which are rituals that Mohammed incorporated into his religion, with a claim that the practices were dictated to him while taking an overnight ride on a flying donkey-mule from Mecca, to Jerusalem, to Heaven and then back to Mecca by morning. The historical record suggests that Mecca was settled around the 4th century A.D. by the Yemeni tribe of Khuzaa'h, joined later by Mohammed’s tribe the Quraish. The Kaaba was built around the early 5th century likely by Asa'd Abu Karb, for Arabian Star Family worship after the black stone made it's way to Mecca, most likely from Yemen. Early reporters recounted that prior to the construction of the Kaabah, a tent occupied the site. The Kaaba eventually housed 360 idols dedicated to Arabian moon, sun, star and jinn (demon) worship. It is no secret that the black stone that Muslims still prostrate themselves toward 5 times a day, venerate, and circumambulate, is the same black stone idol that pagan Arabians venerated and circumambulated. In other words, the Quraish established the rituals that Mohammed eventually adopted and then adapted to his creation. No Mecca before the 4th century - no Kaaba before the 5th century - means no foundation whatsoever underpinning Islamic so-called "tradition". That leaves Islam as Mohammed’s stand-alone, unhistorical, 7th century invention. Since Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael never lived or traveled within 1,000 km of where Mecca was eventually built, and lived well over 1,000 years before the first caravan ever traveled north to south through Arabia, the truth is undeniable. There are historical references to other temples and even to a great temple "highly revered by all the Arabs”, and Mohammed's own tribe the Quraish went on Hajj or pilgrimage twice a year long after they built the Kaaba in Mecca and even after Muhammad had invented Islam, indicating that the Kaaba in Mecca was a less important place of pagan worship. Quran 106:1 For the covenants by the Quraish, 2 Their covenants journeys by winter and summer,- 3 Let them adore the Lord of this House, The Kaaba Flooded (link to this spot) Does it seem reasonable to believe that Yahweh would consign His temple to be situated in a valley, 1400 kilometers away from the temple He had His people build in the Holy Land of the prophets and patriarchs, where it would eventually be inundated by 5 feet of urban floodwater that is always laced with human sewage? Or would He more likely consign His temple to be built on a temple mount, situated on a hill (God's "footstool"), as the true record of the temple in the Holy Land of the prophets and patriarchs of the one true God YHWH in fact was? To our Muslim friends, please research the history of Mecca for yourself. Much of the preceding material is derived from the Religion Research Institute, and the book “Islam: in the Light of History”, penned by Dr. Rafat Amari after his extensive, 20 year, full-time study of the history of Arabia, Mecca and Islam. This whole subject might be described as something of a wikileaks of Islam. Dr. Amari's first language is Arabic and his research included original source materials. The coming of the Messiah, Yahshua (Hebrew name for the Messiah which means "YHWH saves", delivers, or rescues), and the prophesied new covenant that He brought, heralded an entirely different kind of temple. Jesus rebuilt the temple in 3 days, just as He declared He could. John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone] 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. 2Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 1Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 1Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Considering the absence of any historical and archaeological record that suggests that Mecca ever existed before the 4th century A.D., or its Kaaba before the late 5th century AD, could this be what the Saudi's are trying to hide? While the Saudi's (whose money will finance the 9-11 ground zero mosque through various conduits) want to build a grand mosque in New York city (there are already over a hundred of them in N.Y.), the reciprocal fact is that if 99.4% of U.S. citizens (non-Muslims) even set foot in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, we would be subject to arrest. While there is lots of talk regarding free speech touted by mosque sympathizers, what will the politically correct fate of free speech be after the mosque is built? Here's a video example of Christians prevented from passing out tracts of the Gospel of John, anywhere within 5 blocks of an Arab festival, or face arrest. Indeed they were arrested for it. The festival was held on public streets in Dearborn Michigan. Here's another example of Muslim intolerance of free speech on the U.C. Irvine campus. Naturally the ACLU and New York times are coming to their defense. The Saudis have spent billions of dollars financing thousands of mosques and Islamic centers in the U.S., to advance the counter-Gospel, stand-alone, 23-year 7th century record, of the false prophet Muhammad's antichrist "religion", while at the same time if a non-Moslem were even to set foot in Mecca they would be arrested.